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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

There’s some word that Ford is seriously considering resurrecting the Continental name. The internets are buzzing with both confirmation and denial of the rumor depending on where you look. Over at Automotive News, a report suggests that dealers have been told that the Conti will resurface as part of an upcomingLincoln renaissance that includes the introduction of up to seven new or significantly reworked models in short order. Those dealers have supposedly been shown a handful of concept-level renderings of what the new models will look like.

Meanwhile, Motor Authority is reporting that Ford is trying to silence any speculation that the big Continental will return to the Lincoln stable. The site quotes Lincoln spokesman Christian Bokich as saying that of the seven new models headed to the showroom soon, none of them are a new take on the Continental.

That would seem to make sense for a number of reasons. With Lincoln fully embracing a terribly confusing alphabetic naming system, a nameplate like Continental would stick out in a big way (though perhaps Ford is reconsidering this nomenclature strategy). Throw in the fact that the MKS is currently tucked into the slot that the Continental traditionally held, and there’s less and less room for resurrecting the nameplate.

So what does Lincoln have planned for the near future? The crew over at Pickuptrucks.com seems to think that the brand is going to take another swing at a luxury pickup, even though the Blackwood and Mark LTmodels before it have failed to move the sales needle. Of course, all of this is just well-intentioned speculation at this point. Chances are that with today’s dealer meeting proceedings underway, Lincoln won’t be able to keep its real plans under its hat for long.